


Good Parents

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Futurefic, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-20
Updated: 2006-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-01 11:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/356388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex and Clark's children grow up, and they get some surprising reassurance that how well their children turned out wasn't just a quirk of fate.  Another in the 'Alternate Universe' series of ficlets detailing the adventures of the Kent-Luthor family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Parents

## Good Parents

by Magdelena

<http://members.cox.net/magdelena1969>

* * *

_Summary_ : CK/LL SLASH! COMPLETE!! Lex and Clark's children grow up, and they get some surprising reassurance that how well their children turned out wasn't just a quirk of fate. Another in the 'Alternate Universe' series of ficlets detailing the adventures of the Kent-Luthor family. 

_Disclaimer_ : I do not own any of the characters herein (only the plot). The characters of Clark Kent, Superman and Lex Luthor are the property of their creators and DC Comics. Smallville is owned by Gough/Millar Inc and the WB Network TV. I am publishing my fanfiction writings only for my own selfish desire to be a part of their world and receive nothing in return. 

_Author's Note_ : Spoilers all the way through Season Four, but selective use of Smallville and DC Comics canon. So pretty much, yeah, it's AU. Thanks to Sev1970 for betaing for me. 

* * *

Lex and Clark stood on the upper level of the club, leaning against the railing, and overlooking the dance floor below. Times like this reminded Lex just how much his life had changed since the days of his youthful indiscretions. A good deal of his time then had been spent partying in clubs just like this one, dancing wildly to the music as he indulged himself in alcohol, drugs, and a sexually promiscuous lifestyle. That way of life had abruptly ended when his father had forced him, under threat of disowning him, to leave Metropolis for Smallville. There he had found Clark, the man who was destined to be either Lex's salvation, or his ultimate destruction. Thankfully, it had been the former, not the latter, that had come to fruition. 

The scene Lex was observing in the club tonight was vastly different from those evenings of yesteryear. Tonight, Clark and Lex's three children, all of their friends, and their family, were right in the center of the group of dancing partygoers, laughing and smiling as they moved their bodies to the pulsing beat of the club-mix music. Kendall was currently being pirouetted by her grandfather Jonathan, while Conner took his Aunt Chloe for a spin. Kenny, the birthday boy, was leading a small group of his friends in a complicated dance step, and Clark... his Clark... was pressing tender kisses against the back of his neck. 

Lex leaned back into the touch, wondering for what had to be the millionth time, how, with all he had done wrong in his life, he had been lucky enough to be so blessed. He sighed quietly as Clark moved from behind him to stand by his side, Clark's already brilliant smile widening even more as he waved down at their children. 

"I still can't believe you rented out the entire club for a Saturday night," Clark commented, the disbelief evident in his tone as he gently chided his husband. He brushed a soft kiss against Lex's temple, sliding his left arm around his husband's waist and pulling him close. "You spoil him way too much, Lex." 

Lex smiled up at Clark lovingly before returning his attention to the lower level of the club. He leaned forward, resting his forearms against the cool metal railing, Clark's hand sliding automatically to the small of his back. Lex shrugged dismissively. "It was much more practical that way. I wasn't about to take the chance of someone sneaking alcohol to any of the underage kids. This way we control the bar." Lex grimaced as he sipped at the glass in his hand. "Even if it means that I have to drink plain ginger ale all night, it's worth it." 

"I know. Look at him. He's so happy. It's been so hard on him being the youngest - watching his sister and brother being able to do adult stuff long before he could." 

Lex grew quiet for a several long moments, and when he did speak again, it was in a barely audible whisper that only the superhearing of his husband or children could have detected. "It's hard to believe that a timeline could have existed where you and I never had all of this, where we were enemies, and where there was no Kendall, or Kenny." 

It had been a week since Clark and Conner had regained their memories, and so far, Lex had been adjusting amazingly well to the knowledge that the family he held so dear could have been non-existent in another timeline. It was obvious though that tonight, faced with the fact that their youngest was now nearly an adult, Lex was getting a bit sentimental. 

Clark sighed, gently turning Lex so they were facing one another. "Lex, we haven't gotten rid of either of the older ones yet, I doubt seriously Kenny is going anywhere, anytime soon. And as to that alternate timeline, I don't like to think about it either, but somehow, knowing that it could have happened, makes me even more determined that it never will." 

Clark lowered his head slightly, covering Lex's mouth in a tender kiss. Their arms wrapped around one another as their lips pressed together unhurriedly, gently tasting each other for a few moments before pulling apart. 

"Me too, farm boy." Lex turned his gaze back to their children. "We've been lucky, Clark," Lex replied, his voice a bit stronger now, and audible over the throbbing bass of the music. "Finding each other, and then having these beautiful kids. None of them has ever caused us a lick of trouble. Thankfully, they don't take after me when it comes to their willingness to follow parental rules." 

"On the contrary, I think they would be quite blessed to take after either of their fathers." Clark and Lex separated and turned towards the voice, shocked into silence that Lionel Luthor was there in the club, and even more so, because the man seemed to be saying something positive about them. "In my, albeit, unsolicited opinion, luck had nothing to do with it. It takes good parenting to raise children like those," Lionel offered bluntly. He then looked pointedly at Lex before continuing. "Something that you didn't experience." 

Lionel had been invited to almost all of the children's early milestone events, but had rarely attended, so in the past few years, Clark and Lex had ceased bothering with the invitations. His relationship with both his son and son-in-law had remained strained throughout the years, neither man willing to trust the Luthor patriarch with their lives, the lives of their children, or their secrets. Admittedly though, after being bested by Lex and having his company taken away from him, Lionel had kept mostly out of the limelight, disappearing from the Metropolis scene. To Clark and Lex, it seemed that Lionel preferred spending his remaining years consuming his wealth with one piece of young female eye-candy after another. 

"Dad?" 

"Take it for what it is, son," Lionel offered with a very un-Luthor-like shrug of his shoulders. His eyes held not a hint of challenge, his expression amazingly open. "An admission that maybe you had it right all along. I'm glad that you had enough of your mother in you to be willing to give true love a try. I had what you had once, and I managed to kill whatever love your mother had for me long before she died." 

Before either could comment, Lionel continued to speak, turning his attention towards Clark. "At one time, I thought that you had extraordinary powers, Clark. Watching you through the years, I now know it to be true." 

"Lionel, I..." Clark stammered, feeling Lex stiffening beside him. 

"It just wasn't as I suspected." Lionel chuckled and smirked. "As I'm quite sure both of you know, since you named your first-born son after him, I am the one that hired the young man who befriended you at Metropolis University, and subsequently drugged you at your reunion party at the castle. I had hoped he would finally dig out the secret of why Lex was so obsessed with you. When he told me that the 'big secret' was the fact that you were in love with my son, I initially found it quite hard to believe. But after only a moment, it made sense - why you were always around, always so intimately involved in every aspect of Lex's life." 

Continuing his unexpected confession, Lionel moved towards the balcony edge, now looking down over the crowd below. "So I changed my tactics. Disavowed of the notion that you had any 'special' powers, I tried a smear campaign against the two of you, hoping to bring Lex back into the fold, and to end the dalliance of his little company once and for all. I was convinced that you would only be a temporary obstacle towards regaining control over Lex. I suppose I failed to recognize that my own son had grown up, and not in the way I had planned. I was so used to him tiring of his toys after he'd had them a bit of time, that I fully expected him to find you expendable soon enough. It quickly became obvious though, that Lex was in love with you as well. And amazingly, the one thing I had always seen as his weakness - following his emotions - was revealed to be his greatest strength." Lionel's gaze drifted back to Clark and Lex, both still stunned silent. "The next time you organized a takeover attempt, I didn't stop you." 

"You allowed...?" 

"Oh no, Lex," Lionel assured, waving his hand dismissively. "You won fair and square. You managed to rally very influential people to your side, and you made some brilliant advances in your research that vaulted LexCorp into the Fortune 500. LuthorCorp simply couldn't keep up. It wasn't until I came to your office that day to sign the paperwork, when I saw the depths of your commitment to your family that I realized you had been right all along. You have become one of the most powerful businessmen in the world without needing to become me. I am far too old to change my ways, but you were not. Your life would have turned out quite differently without Clark or these children. So would've mine." 

Lionel took a step towards Lex, and raised a hand, gently squeezing Lex's arm. "I am a horrible father, but thankfully, you are not. You have encouraged each of your children to pursue their individual strengths, and your love for them never came at a price. Mine did. I know it's far too late for me to be saying this, Lex, but I am proud of the man you've become, and in my own peculiar, curious way, I do love you." 

Thankfully, Kendall appeared moments later, at the top of the stairs, forestalling the need for her dumbfounded fathers to attempt a reply to Lionel's unexpected speech. 

"Grandpapa Lionel! We thought we saw you up here. Kenny will be so glad that you made it. Come on downstairs with me, and I'll introduce you to some of our friends." 

Lionel smoothly turned towards his granddaughter as if the preceding minutes of conversation hadn't even happened. "I appreciate the offer, but I merely stopped by to wish your brother the best. I doubt your fathers, or any of Kenneth's other guests would appreciate me staying around." Lionel reached into his jacket pocket, removing an envelope and stretching it out towards Kendall. "Perhaps you could just give this to him." 

Kendall huffed, waving her hand dismissively in a move that oddly echoed her grandfather's earlier movements. "Nonsense. Kenny and I were both there when he invited you." She narrowed her gaze. "He hardly knows you, and he wants to. He wants you here, so does Conner, and so do I. We haven't spent hardly any time together since Papa took LuthorCorp away from you, and we miss you." 

Lionel snorted, his lips twisting into a caricature of a smile. "Your favorite childhood pastime was vomiting on me as I recall." 

"And if you don't behave tonight, I just might do it again," Kendall threatened. She threw her arms around her grandfather's neck affectionately for a moment, shocking all three men, before eagerly taking Lionel's hand in her own. "So come along now. I won't be taking no for an answer. I'll expect none of your usual sarcastic comments at Granddad," she warned, "and no leering at Grandma - that's just wrong on too many levels." She turned towards Clark and Lex. "Daddy, Lois is getting ready to leave and wanted to say goodbye. And Papa? Kenny and Conner want you out there. They're arguing about how to do that complicated dance step that you taught them." 

"You go ahead with Grandpapa Lionel," Clark mumbled, still in shock over Lionel's words. "We'll be down in a minute, Princess." 

As soon as Lionel and Kendall had descended the steps enough to be out of sight, Lex snorted, and turned towards Clark, a bemused look on his face, and his eyes still wide with shock. "Was I hallucinating or did my father tell me he loved me? And did he really just compliment both of us and our parenting skills?" 

"If you were hallucinating, we're in big trouble, because I heard it too." 

Both Clark and Lex slumped against one another, watching in silence as Lionel and Kendall walked out into the crowd, meeting and greeting the other guests. Martha looked up at them, her expression warring between pleading and amusement, as she glanced pointedly at Kenny. Seeing that the birthday boy's lips were spread into the oh-too-familiar Luthor smirk, Lex gestured towards the dance floor. 

"Come on, let's get down there. I'll have my breakdown over this rather interesting conversation later. I don't need super powers to know that look of Martha's. We'd better take preemptive action before Kenny talks Lionel into releasing his trust fund early. Lord knows what's in that damn envelope, and I don't trust that boy with easy access to funds. I'll go sort out the boys, and you make sure that Kendall keeps Dad away from Kenny. Then, I think it's about time we show those kids of ours that we've still got it." 

Lex moved in closer to Clark, his hands sliding possessively over Clark's buttocks. He lowered his tone to the sensual tenor that he knew made Clark crazy, and he lowered his eyes so that he could stare up at Clark suggestively through his lashes. "I feel like dancing tonight." 

"We'll completely embarrass the children," Clark chided, even as his grin broadened. His attempt to capture Lex's lips was abruptly halted as Lex's palm came down sharply against his backside. 

Lex smirked at Clark's girlish yelp, taking the opportunity to dart out of his husband's arms and head towards the stairs. His gaze drifted towards Clark's crotch suggestively. "Clark, I may be a good parent, but I'm far from perfect. If you're a good boy, I may even show you how wicked I can be later tonight." 

Clark's growled-out "Lex!" was drowned out by the booming music, as he happily chased his husband down the stairs. 


End file.
